There are many filmmaking competitions to take part in throughout the whole year. We want to highlight two which are currently accepting new entries – My RØDE Reel and Zacuto My Story Film Competition.
My RØDE Reel 2017
The first competition worth mentioning is My RØDE Reel, which is one of the better known and established competitions for filmmakers. Already in its fourth year, it now offers $500.000 worth of prizes. There is a lot of gear to be won, not only from sound equipment manufacturer RØDE, but also from other well known partners like Blackmagic Design, Freefly, Lowepro, Kessler, Adobe, Atomos, Miller and many more. Check the full list of prizes on the My RØDE Reel website.
In order to take part in My RØDE Reel 2017 you have to create and submit a short film with a maximum length of three minutes and a behind the scenes video with the same maximum length featuring the RØDE product used in the production.
The judges to impress this year are Tim “Rosso” Ross, Matilda Brown, Philip Bloom, Ric Viers and Genevieve Bailey. To get an idea for the kind of movies that have impressed the judges in the past, check out last year’s My RØDE Reel winners.
The good thing about My RØDE Reel is that they announce winners in a number of categories, which gives you better odds of winning something. Deadline for entry is June 30th, 2017, and to fire up the motivation, RØDE has made the following video.
Zacuto My Story Film Competition
Another chance to win some nice gear is My Story Film Competition from Zacuto. As per the title, Zacuto wants to know your story of becoming a filmmaker. Simply create and submit 60 seconds video about your story. As Zacuto states: “We’re looking for an innovative concept, imaginative storytelling, and creative execution!”
There will be first, second and third places in the Zacuto My Story Film Competition, with interesting prizes from partners like Adobe, Kessler, Zacuto, RØDE, Cartoni and many more. A full list of prizes with descriptions and all relevant information is available on the Competition’s website.
Deadline for entry is March 31st, 2017.

Audio gear manufacturer RØDE has grown a reputation to be very supportive of filmmakers particularly – both through their products (which are more geared towards shooters that record audio rather than dedicated audio recordists), and their annual short film competition “My RØDE Reel”.
Now already in its third year, the competition has seen 1200 entries from 85 countries, which makes it – according to RØDE – world’s largest short film competition. This comes at no surprise if you consider the $300,000 worth of prizes that are awarded in the 16 winning categories: RØDE continuously manages to attract a lot of other well-respected brands to donate prizes, among them Zeiss, Kessler, G-Technology, Small HD, Freefly, Adobe, Bright Tangerine and many, many others. This year, the films were judged by Shane Hurlbut, ASC, Rodney Charters ASC CSC, and Philip Bloom.
Here are the 5 major prize winners:
· Young Filmmaker to William Royal (UK) for the film Serenity
· Female Filmmaker Larica Perera (Canada) for Tik-Tik
· BTS to Normandie Productions (USA) and their film DUE/AL
· People’s Choice went to Power Play by the Sketch Juice team (USA)
· Judges’ Film went to Jay Red (Ireland) and his gripping drama Streetlights
I watched the films as well and am amazed by the amount of creativity on display. Shane Hurlbut said about “Streetlights”, “Three minutes is a difficult amount of time to transport a person, to move, to emote. This film does it so well, I love the twist at the end.”
Watch the 5 major pirze winners below, one by one, or head over to RØDE’s website for more information and all the other winners as well. And keep an eye out for next year’s competition, as you can see from the amount of prizes, it’s definitely worth entering your work.
Serenity by William Royal (UK) – Award: Best Young Filmmaker
Serenity is a short film about the way a teenage girl sees the city and how she plays the flute to escape the noise and the hustle of her daily life. Her music is inspired by the movement of the city.
Tik-Tik by Larica Perera (Canada) – Award: Best Female Filmmaker
Fearful villagers gather at the beside of a woman nearing labour as they prepare for the presence of a sinister creature. Set in the Philippines, TIK-TIK is based off of a popular creature in Filipino folklore, known as the Aswang.
DUE/AL by Normandie Productions (USA) – Award: Behind-the-Scenes
The goal of DUE/AL is to take you through three minutes of one man’s life. The camera is completely reactionary, capturing the action as if it were being documented in the moment.
The driving force behind DUE/AL was the audio mix. No matter how intense the visuals were, nothing would sell the intensity more than a soundtrack that pushes the anxiety levels higher.
Every piece of DUE/AL was created to put the audience in the headspace of the injured German.
Power Play by the Sketch Juice team (USA) – Award: People’s Choice
Joe and Armstrong are engaged in battle. They fight with ferocity but there is more to this fight than meets the eye. Find out who is pulling the strings!
Streetlights by Jay Red (Ireland)
This film follows the story of a man with a photographic memory who psychologically reflects on his own traumatic past.